Nintendo 64 Emulation Documentation

[Iconoclast]

Found the cause to that NVIDIA Omega Driver set/Glide64 crash.

The Omega Drivers on NVIDIA cards dont expose GL_EXT_framebuffer_object to the video cards and wrapper. Thus, causing a crash whenever HWFBE is enabled, due to the lack of driver support for OpenGL framebuffer objects.

I'm not sure who you're directing this to, but if you meant me, my PC crashed because of supposed-to-be physical problems with my hard drive. Glide64 has never crashed on me ever since I got rid of that Microsoft version of my NVidia drivers and replaced them with the ones from NVidia's site.

Again, I did attempt to install the Omega drivers, but I was stuck at 640x480 resolution and 4 bit color depth, so I just HAD to switch back to my old one, and now I'm back where I started.

Nevertheless, thank you all for your help. I can still test Glide64, just not the way with other plugins, so I can continue to work on the CHM. Please, anyone, give me a correction, scold me a mistake I made in the CHM, so that I don't have to double-post when I'm finished with version four. Maybe it's because of the whole annoying "add your name to the Credits page" thing....

 

[mudlord]

Well, from my testing, Glide64 crashes or comes up with a exception error when ever I'm using the Omega drivers, and using HWFBE..

The message wasnt aimed at anyone in particulur, i was just stating what I found out and that it might be useful to know to others that want to use the NVIDIA Omega drivers for emulation.

 

[Iconoclast]

The next version is attached to this post.

Changes:

Added descriptions of unplayable games list
Added Vigilante 8 - Second Offense, TWINE, and Super Smash Bros.
Added testing information just below the list of unsupported games

From now on, I will be testing unplayable games marked by BigHead's list to confirm them. I have only checked a couple of them. AI Shougi 3 is not unplayable. See Ai Shougi 3.htm for details. Dark Rift is certainly unplayable, that I agree with, until further development in gfx plugins.

Not many changes, I know. Perhaps I'm losing my touch on the project. I promise to never stop until I say so, however. I'm still having fun working on it. If I didn't have school and pests around me, my work rate would be greater than this.

 

[mudlord]

Just would like to add that I will be able to test out TWINE, with Glide64, to note all the issues that pertain to the use of that plugin.

 

[Iconoclast]

Ah, thank you. Let me know what issues you find. In the meantime, due to PC restrictions, my PC shuts down at 10 PM every night, so unless you can reply in 30 seconds....

I hope to rapidly increase the rate of this project's growth when I have more time during Winter Break.

 

[4real]

Good work on making a new help doc but your banjo tooie help is wrong on many accounts.

1: Mupen64 is the worse emu to play this game on and will crash on many systems so i see u not done much testing into this.

2: 1964 version8.5 is the best emu to play this game with verylittle or none at all problems.

Check out my faq at the web site to see the best config for this game and these have been tested over long periods of time not just by myself.

 

[Iconoclast]

Good work on making a new help doc but your banjo tooie help is wrong on many accounts.

1: Mupen64 is the worse emu to play this game on and will crash on many systems so i see u not done much testing into this.

2: 1964 version8.5 is the best emu to play this game with verylittle or none at all problems.

Check out my faq at the web site to see the best config for this game and these have been tested over long periods of time not just by myself.

Mupen64 has never crashed on my system for this game. I made it from Spiral Mountain to the Wooded Hollow on Mupen64, while on Project64 and 1964, I could never make it without crashing. Are you sure Mupen64 will crash on this game, because it has never done so for me? Might it be your plugins, possibly? Perhaps you were testing with an old version of Mupen64? Current version is 0.5.

And I have done very much testing. Probably not as much as you, for this game only to balance time for testing all games, but don't judge my efforts.

As for your guide, I examined it, and I have several things to say:

1. BigHead's guide says to use Project64's RSP, not Mupen64's. In reality, though, RSP emulation is actually not used in this game, so no Reality Signal Plugin is required for this game.
2. It was difficult for me to interpret your recommended plugins, but I saw that you recommended schibo's audio plugin. I hear Hacktarux found a way to get that audio plugin sounding better than Jabo's DirectSound on 1964, but from my testing, both audio plugins will always crackle on the 1964 emulator. For some reason, Jabo's DS sounds much better on all of the other emulators than it does on 1964, so Azimer's HLE is my recommendation.
3. You definitely did more testing on this game than I did, a full project on it at that. I didn't even bother testing Pterodactyland and all those future levels...you truly tested this game to the full. I will be sure to mention a link to your recommendations to this game in my FAQ, but I will not change the recommended plugins. I will, however, say that BOTH Mupen64 AND 1964 v8.5 could be used, until you explain Mupen64's downfall on this game.
4. By Jabo's 1.6, I assume you mean Jabo's Direct3D 8? Direct3D 8 can't fix the glitchy jigsaw pieces in Jiggywiggy's Challenges, but Direct3D 6 can, if you have Self-rendered textures checked. If you uncheck this option, the game becomes unplayable, because you can't see the jigsaw pieces and identify where to place them. The slowdown is absolutely required to make the part of the game playable. It even grants extra time for solving the puzzle. I recommend changing that on your website.
5. The best graphics plugin for this game is Glide64 because it emulates the pause effect perfectly. With Depth Buffer Render and, to fix the missing jigsaw framebuffer effect, probably Get frame buffer info, the game is emulated best.
6. As for the comment on Project64, saying that it has great speed and more performance and plays more like the actual N64, I can argue with that. Sometimes 1964, Mupen64, and even Nemu64 can be faster than/just as fast as Project64, and I can think of several instances. It does not play games most similarly to the actual N64 more or less than any other emulator. Its core isn't a well-built as Mupen64s, which can get away with using the Recompiler on some games and has no slowdown issues on games like Conker's BFD like Project64 does. There is a huge difference between the N64's console and the Project64 emulator, and no emulators comes even relatively close to playing just like the N64 console. Imo, I even dare to challenge the emulator by saying that it is actually overestimated.

 

[4real]

Iconoclast im not judging your efforts at all im just saying in test on multi machines that mupen did perfrom the worse.


The problem is there are many diffrent machines and the faq is to try and get the best options for the user, In our test all emu's where tested to the end of the game, glide is a great plugin but it does have issues further in the game so this is def a no go if you want to complete the game so you saying The best graphics plugin for this game is Glide64 because it emulates the pause effect is not good a reason to say its the best plugin if you cant complete the game.

If you could please put your config you used i will do a full test and the results will be added to the faq.

I think you doing good work with your project and new info is always welcome so if you want your project posted on my downloads page on my site than you more than welcome.

Best 4real

 

[Iconoclast]

Glide is a great plugin but it does have issues further in the game so this is def a no go if you want to complete the game so you saying The best graphics plugin for this game is Glide64 because it emulates the pause effect is not good a reason to say its the best plugin if you cant complete the game.

You see, that's my problem. I am focused on testing every commercial Nintendo 64 ROM on multiple emulators and plugins for best results, but what I DON'T test is trying to beat the whole game, like you did for Banjo-Tooie when testing. You were able to find a problem with using the Glide64 graphics plugin for this game. Also, I did assume Glide64 was the best plugin because it emulated the pause effect more sharply and seemed to have no disadvantage over Jabo's Direct3D 6, but, again, I never really did take more than a few hours to test each individual game.

I would appreciate it if you could upload a save state for Banjo-Tooie right before the point where the issue on the Glide64 plugin comes, and I'll test it and see if I can fix the issue by configuring the plugin or using a different emulator. Mupen64, after all, does handle the Glide64 plugin very well compared to the other emulators. If it's too much trouble, if you can, tell me the point in the game where Glide64 screws up a little. Or perhaps mudlord would like to test out that newly released version?

Anyway, if you want to go back and test Mupen64 again, these are the plugins I was using for Mupen64 when I said that this might be the best emulator:

• Graphics: Jabo's Direct3D 6, also tested using Glide64
• Sound: Either Azimer's HLE or Jabo's DirectSound (shouldn't affect stability)
• RSP: Project64's RSP

Anyway, thank you for the comment, and yes, I think a few who visit your website in the future who might so happen to cross a link to my documentation will find the link useful, so do add my project to your website. Unless you want me to e-mail you or something, you may have to check this thread for updates if you want to update your link to the newest version.

 

[4real]

Link added to you thread on my site i will be testing your config with the new glide 64 plugin as well.

What graphics card are u using to test mupen 64 as this has a factor to it as well.

Best s4

 

[Iconoclast]

Link added to you thread on my site i will be testing your config with the new glide 64 plugin as well.

What graphics card are u using to test mupen 64 as this has a factor to it as well.

Best s4

I originally had an NVidia GeForce FX 5200 (Microsoft Corporation), but I reinstalled the drivers from nvidia.com to get rid of the Microsoft part, which now lets Glide64 work...but gives me a black screen for most games (except Banjo-Tooie, for one).

 

[mudlord]

Finished testing TWINE with Glide64. There is only one very minor bug with the dynamic shadows, everything else is perfect.

 

[Iconoclast]

I've added more to the Credits page for mudlord, BigHead and 4real in this version.

I'm a little sloppy with the what's new; I can't even remember the new games I added to the CHM. I think they were Excitebike 64, Star Wars RS, Star Wars Shadows of the Empire, and Ide Yosuke yadayada something. Could be another I forgot. Basically, the major thing I did in this release was test all games that BigHead said were unplayable. Out of these games, I could only prove three of them as playable, and they were added.

Again, the attachment is on the first post.

 

[mudlord]

Some corrections:
-depth buffer render does not need to be ticked for framebuffer emulation in BT puzzle. HWFBE does. And the possible speed can be exponentially stronger on more powerful video cards. For example, the puzzle effect run flawlessly with zero speed hit on my GF6600GT.

-HWFBE and "read every frame" is needed for correct and full-speed zipper FB emulation in DK64 with Glide64.

-Excitebike 64 works great with Glide64, no major graphics issues. Lens flare emulation works. HUD works perfect with Glide64.

-Goldeneye with Glide64 runs almost perfect, except for sky.

-Framebuffer effects on Mario Kart 64 (such as the big screens) are emulated perfectly with Glide64 with "get FB info" ticked on Mupen64, with zero speed hit. The same can be accomplished in Project64 with Glide64, using HWFBE and "read every frame".

-Glide64 emulates Star Wars - Shadows of the Empire extremely well, to the point of perfection

-In SSB, glN64 has incorrect emulation of framebuffers. Glide64 is needed for perfect emulation. And that includes the emulation of the screen where the bonuses are tallied. (see evidence of correct bonus screen emulation)

-Correction: Super Mario 64 is not the only game that uses dithered alpha rendering (the dissolve effect uses this feature). Paper Mario, Sin and Punishment, and many other games do (I do recall a certain obscure Japanese game uses it...)

EDIT: Included info on how to emulate Sin and Punishment with minimal trouble. Info is attached

 

[Iconoclast]

Some corrections:
-depth buffer render does not need to be ticked for framebuffer emulation in BT puzzle. HWFBE does. And the possible speed can be exponentially stronger on more powerful video cards. For example, the puzzle effect run flawlessly with zero speed hit on my GF6600GT.

-HWFBE and "read every frame" is needed for correct and full-speed zipper FB emulation in DK64 with Glide64.

-Excitebike 64 works great with Glide64, no major graphics issues. Lens flare emulation works. HUD works perfect with Glide64.

-Goldeneye with Glide64 runs almost perfect, except for sky.

-Framebuffer effects on Mario Kart 64 (such as the big screens) are emulated perfectly with Glide64 with "get FB info" ticked on Mupen64, with zero speed hit. The same can be accomplished in Project64 with Glide64, using HWFBE and "read every frame".

-Glide64 emulates Star Wars - Shadows of the Empire extremely well, to the point of perfection

-In SSB, glN64 has incorrect emulation of framebuffers. Glide64 is needed for perfect emulation. And that includes the emulation of the screen where the bonuses are tallied. (see evidence of correct bonus screen emulation)

-Correction: Super Mario 64 is not the only game that uses dithered alpha rendering (the dissolve effect uses this feature). Paper Mario, Sin and Punishment, and many other games do (I do recall a certain obscure Japanese game uses it...)

EDIT: Included info on how to emulate Sin and Punishment with minimal trouble. Info is attached

I didn't say Super Mario 64 was the only game that used the effect. If I said "Unfortunately, Super Mario 64 is the exception," then that'd be different. Even so, I'll still make it more clear by rewording that.

Glide64 may emulate it to perfection, and I did forget to put that as an alternate plugin, but Rice's Video 5.9.9 does just as well. Thing being, BigHead's list says Glide64 has slowdowns in certain parts of the game. Still, I should've added Glide64 to that.

For GoldenEye 007, Rice's Video 6.1.1 emulates the game better, because it loads the sky. Still, Glide64, I think, would be the next best thing, so I should at least mention that for those who have OpenGL running faster than DirectX on their system.

For Super Smash Bros, I don't see a difference with HWFBE on or off on glN64. I did attempt to test Glide64, and I saw that glN64 better rendered the training 'logo' in the background of the course. It seemed to fix some bitmap rendering, and I noticed that Glide64 didn't do quite as well. Still, that's one glitch for both plugins, so I'll throw in Glide64 into there.

I was able to test Glide64 for Excitebike 64. By switching quickly between the menus, I could get it to flicker on and off. I saw that Glide64 did not properly emulate the shadows in the path in front of the racer while Rice's Video Plugin, with Normal Blender disabled, did. And this just in, it turns out that this does not happen with Glide64. Oh, well. Guess I should add the plugin, then.

For Mario Kart 64, I forgot about Glide64's unique ability to emulate the frame buffer effect. Glide64 will be added.

For Banjo-Tooie, I just tried it now, and it turns out the jigsaw effect showed up in Jiggywiggy's challenges without Depth Buffer Render on OR HWBFE. I think my graphics drivers are screwed up. I can't say much. I'll just have to go with what you say here, but just make sure that this happens and test it again, because I could've sworn I needed to have Depth Buffer Render ALSO on. Maybe it depends on your gfx card?

Finally, for Donkey Kong 64, I did make a link to the Frame Buffer Emulation page, explaining how to turn it on for the different plugins. I did not, however, include on that page that Write Back Every Frame is sometimes also required. I did say that for Rice's, though. Nevertheless, while I underestimate Glide64, though not on this system, you underestimate the other plugins. Write Back Every Frame emulation is also available for the other plugins supporting frame buffer emulation, and, depending on your system, Rice's or Jabo's could be faster than Glide64 with this complete frame buffer emulation setting as well as vice versa. I will not update the DK 64 page, but I will update the Frame Buffer Emulation page that it links to.

All of this will take effect in the next release, but I'll make the changes as soon as I free up some RAM.

 

[mudlord]

For Super Smash Bros, I don't see a difference with HWFBE on or off on glN64. I did attempt to test Glide64, and I saw that glN64 better rendered the training 'logo' in the background of the course. It seemed to fix some bitmap rendering, and I noticed that Glide64 didn't do quite as well. Still, that's one glitch for both plugins, so I'll throw in Glide64 into there.

Strange...for me everything renders like the original N64, I had "get FB info" on when testing SSB with Glide64 under Mupen64...

I was able to test Glide64 for Excitebike 64. By switching quickly between the menus, I could get it to flicker on and off. I saw that Glide64 did not properly emulate the shadows in the path in front of the racer while Rice's Video Plugin, with Normal Blender disabled, did. And this just in, it turns out that this does not happen with Glide64. Oh, well. Guess I should add the plugin, then

That issue could be video card related, as Gonetz tested the wrapper on a Radeon, and dynamic shadows worked fine with the wrapper and Glide64 on his PC. However on mine, the dynamic shadows are a little malaligned, but still render, hence being a minor issue.

For Banjo-Tooie, I just tried it now, and it turns out the jigsaw effect showed up in Jiggywiggy's challenges without Depth Buffer Render on OR HWBFE. I think my graphics drivers are screwed up. I can't say much. I'll just have to go with what you say here, but just make sure that this happens and test it again, because I could've sworn I needed to have Depth Buffer Render ALSO on. Maybe it depends on your gfx card?

My mistake too, jut tested it again, and the effect works without HWFBE, its just it runs as slow as a turtle with two broken legs if HWFBE is not enabled...But with HWFBE on, it rans properly, with no speed loss (on my card). Maybe your right, but I don't doubt it as GeForce FX 5200's are generally lacking in performance from my experience (DX9 level shader performance is no exception)
..

Finally, for Donkey Kong 64, I did make a link to the Frame Buffer Emulation page, explaining how to turn it on for the different plugins. I did not, however, include on that page that Write Back Every Frame is sometimes also required. I did say that for Rice's, though. Nevertheless, while I underestimate Glide64, though not on this system, you underestimate the other plugins. Write Back Every Frame emulation is also available for the other plugins supporting frame buffer emulation, and, depending on your system, Rice's or Jabo's could be faster than Glide64 with this complete frame buffer emulation setting as well as vice versa. I will not update the DK 64 page, but I will update the Frame Buffer Emulation page that it links to

Interesting....so other plugins emulate the zipper effect and other framebuffer effects like the screen transitions with no speed loss? If so, then I really need to check out those plugins..

 

[Iconoclast]

Woah...didn't mean to give that impression. No, the other plugins don't emulate the Write Back Every Frame without speed cost. They do have a speed loss, especially Rice's on my system, but my point was, I saw, on Glide64's configuration dialoge, on the right of the "Write Back Every Frame" option, the word 'slow'. I didn't mean to say all plugins losslessly emulated the frame buffer effect, I meant to say none of them, or at least when writing back to every frame with pure frame buffer emulation.

Anyway, my drivers are corrupt or something. I can only barely use Glide64, and though emulation speed is fair, it's not near as fast as the Direct64 plugins for me. This is why I avoid OpenGL, till I get a different PC at least. I should be grateful for what I have now.

 

[mudlord]

Woah...didn't mean to give that impression. No, the other plugins don't emulate the Write Back Every Frame without speed cost. They do have a speed loss, especially Rice's on my system, but my point was, I saw, on Glide64's configuration dialoge, on the right of the "Write Back Every Frame" option, the word 'slow'. I didn't mean to say all plugins losslessly emulated the frame buffer effect, I meant to say none of them, or at least when writing back to every frame with pure frame buffer emulation.

OK, sorry for misunderstanding. Yeah, pure framebuffer emulation will always a issue, thats why hardware frame buffer emulation exists to remedy that. But still, HWFBE has its faults..

 

[Iconoclast]

Did you all miss me?

But no, here's the deal. Three days ago, I did something almost completely retarded. When I was freeing up space on my Flash drive, I already had a copy of my N64 emulation folder on my hard drive, so I figured, meh, delete it. A few hours later, I remembered that the source for my .chm documentation was under there....

So, what I'll do in time is resave the .html files from the .chm file and have the sourcecode re-generated, but, in time, I thought of a better way for this to be done. Perhaps one of my dismotives for progressing on the .chm file is the concern that the games I add support to it, aren't cared for by any users of this site. It makes me feel like I'm wasting my time, at least practically. So, I wanted to do things differently. For every game anybody mentions in this thread, I write a documentation for it and update the .chm attachment.

And then there's mudlord's Sin and Punishment page...I'll have that reformatted in html in a moment. Will be added along with another game a user might mention in this thread.

 

[smcd]

To save you some time, there are chm "decompilers" that can rip apart a chm into all the individual files it contains. That should save you some time (The Microsoft Help SDK can do this for you, http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...tmlhelp/html/hwMicrosoftHTMLHelpDownloads.asp )